paraphrasing

December 3 2014 Hormonal Influences on Consumer Behavior

This article is about a study on the woman’s monthly ovulation cycle and how it effects things such as: their competitions, the product choices, and their desire to go out and be social. It is scientifically known that women unconsciously change the way they think depending on how close or far they are from their ovulation period. Women tend to want to be competitive, and look better than other women around them even when they are not affected by hormonal factors. However, competitiveness is heightened when their hormones tell them they have to outdo other women around them by purchasing sexier, more revealing articles of clothing.

“Early research in consumer behavior found that women have a high level of interest in shopping for fashion-related items” (Durante). This is obvious if you have ever gone shopping with your significant other, or even you mother. Women take much longer in the store to shop, and always have to stop by the cosmetics, jewelry, or clothing. There are many factors on why women shop this way, but science shows one of the factors may very well be the monthly ovulation cycle. During this stage, a woman’s hormonal levels such as estrogen and LH increase, and this changes the way the mind works without the woman even knowing it is happening.

Ovulation has an effect on things such as mate choice, product choice, and competition levels. During ovulation women tend to “look for a mate”, because of this they are constantly outdoing themselves to look better and better in order to attract a man. This directly correlates to women being competitive during ovulation. Women want to be the one the handsome man is looking at, and in order to achieve that they have to be prettier and sexier than the other women, which results in a competitive nature.

All of this directly relates to the fact that women product choices are in fact effected by the women’s ovulation period. During ovulation women buy more makeup, sexier clothing, flashy jewelry, and enchanting perfumes in order to be the best of the best. A study was performed on 60 women who were recruited via email or flyer. The results came from women who had a consistent ovulation cycle, and where not on any form of birth control or hormonal changing pill. After their ovulation period is determined, the women are put into a room to go virtual shopping based on their preferences. These women where showed a mixture of brands and styles, some casual and some sexy. “Findings showed that near peak fertility, women chose sexier clothing and other fashion accessories” (Durante).

I think this study was well performed, but I think the test group was much too small. Sixty women to me does not seem like enough to pull a proper result. I also think excluding women who use birth control and other hormonal enhancers or blockers is wrong. I think that these women could provide crucial information that may or may not change the end result, opposed to being left out. Women clearly act different during ovulation period, this is noticeable not only in their retail purchases, but their appetite and general attitude. I also think that it says something about the way of life. Even in the wild during animals periods of ovulation, their feathers brighten or they flick their bushy tails in order to try and attract a male and reproduce. This is the same thing women are doing when they dress up and try to make themselves look better than the other females, they want to attract the best male they can. However, during this time women ware in such pursuit of a male they tend to make bad decisions, and this is one of the negative effects of women’s ovulation periods.

Works Cited

Durante, Kristina, Vladas Griskevicius, Sarah Hill, Corin Perilloux, and Norman Li. "Ovulation, Female Competition, and Product Choice: Hormonal Influences on Consumer Behavior." Business.UTSA.edu. 30 Aug. 2014. Web. 3 Dec. 2014.